In contrast to all the bloodthirsty African rulers to precede the Bugandan King Mutesa II and succeed him, there was nothing bloodthirsty about him. Perhaps because of his upbringing — while his grandfather was deposed by the British, his father took over, and young Edward Mutesa II grew up in the British East Africa, completing his education in Cambridge. His politics reflected a desire to serve his people rather than himself, and while he faced opposition from within and without, he always took his duties as a leader seriously.

On this day, November 19, in 1942, upon reaching 18 years of age Mutesa took over for this father as the King of Buganda, the largest of the kingdoms within the British protectorate of Uganda.

Despite his close ties to the British, and knowing that he partly owed his position to them, he was not afraid to speak out against their scheme of a federation — for which the British deposed and exiled him — only to reinstate him two years later due to a public outcry. By 1966 an independent Ugandan federation fell into an internal strife, and its leader, Milton Obote, used armed force, led by his right-hand-man Idi Amin, to depose Mutesa II and abolish all the kingdoms.